OrEd-T-20.8-Consistency of Means-End
58. Jesus has spoken about discrepancies between means and end, and how these must be brought together before our holy relationship can bring us only joy. He said that the means to meet the Holy Spirit's goal comes from the same Source as His purpose. Being so simple and direct, this course is consistent. The seeming inconsistencies, or parts we find more difficult than others, are only indications of areas where means and end are still discrepant. This produces great discomfort, and need not be. This course requires almost nothing of us. It is impossible to imagine a course that asks so little or could offer more.
59. The period of discomfort that follows the sudden change in a relationship from sin to holiness is now almost over. To the extent that we still experience discomfort, we are refusing to leave the means to Him Who changed the purpose. We recognize we want the goal. We must also be willing to accept the means. If not, we admit that we are inconsistent. A purpose is attained by means, and if we want a purpose, we are willing to want the means as well. One cannot be sincere and say, "I want this above all else, and yet I do not want to learn the means to get it".
60. To obtain the goal, the Holy Spirit asks little. The means are second to the goal. He asks no more, to give the means as well. When we hesitate, it is because the purpose frightens us, not the means. Let us remember this, for otherwise we make the error of believing the means are difficult. Yet, how can the means be difficult if they are given to us? The means guarantee the goal, and are perfectly in line with the goal. I will remember that if I think the means are impossible, my wanting of the purpose has been shaken. For if a goal is possible to reach, the means to do so must be possible as well.
*61. It is impossible to see my brother as sinless and still see him as a body. This is perfectly consistent with the goal of holiness. For holiness is the result of letting the effects of sin be lifted so what was always true is recognized. The body is not sinful or sinless, but merely neutral. To see a sinless body is impossible. The body is nothing, and it cannot be invested with attributes of the ego or of Christ. Both investments would place attributes where they cannot be, and for the purpose of truth must be undone.
62. The body is the means by which the ego tries to make the unholy relationship seem real. The time of bodies is the unholy instant. The purpose here is sin. Sin can only be attained in illusion, and the illusion of a brother as a body, is quite in keeping with the purpose of unholiness. While the end is cherished, the means remain unquestioned, because of this consistency. Vision adapts to desire, and I will see what I wish to see. If I see the body, I have chosen judgment and not vision. I either see or not, for vision, like relationship, has no order.
63. Those who 'see' a brother's body have laid a judgment on him, and do not see him. The brother is not seen as sinful, but is not seen at all. In the darkness of sin, he is invisible. He can only be imagined in the darkness. Here the illusions about him are not held up to the brother's reality. Here illusions and reality are kept separated. Here illusions are hidden and never brought to truth. And here, in darkness, my brother's reality is imagined as a body, in unholy relationships with other bodies, serving the cause of sin an instant before he dies.
64. There is a difference between imagining and vision. The difference lies in their purpose. Imagining and vision are different means, each appropriate to the purpose it serves, and they cannot serve the purpose of the other. Being a choice of purpose, each has no value separated from its end. The means seem real because the goal is valued. And judgment values only sin.
65. A holy relationship can achieve its purpose only through the means of vision. The body can only be seen through judgment, and judgment I taught myself. Vision is learned from Him Who would undo judgment. To see the body is a sign that I lack vision, and have denied the means the Holy Spirit offers me. I closed my eyes, and my imaginings about my brother seemed real in the darkness. My purpose was to shut him out. And as long as this purpose seems to have meaning for me, I will not have vision, choosing judgment instead. The vision of my holy brother is no illusion. This vision is leading me to reality and release.
66. Salvation is the Holy Spirit's goal, and vision is His means. I will not ask, "How can I see my brother without the body?" Instead I ask, "Do I wish to see my brother sinless?" I will remember that my brother's sinlessness is my escape from fear. No one who loves can judge, and what he sees is free of condemnation. What love looks on is sinless, and what I see is given, as is the vision which makes my seeing possible.
